Guyana’s Golden Jaguars this week commenced training at the Police Sports Club ground Eve Leary in preparation for the final matches of the World Cup Qualifiers as well as the 2012 Caribbean Football Union Cup.
The sessions run from 7:30am to 9:00 am daily.
According to a press release, the sessions will focus mainly on fitness enhancement and the assessment of the players via a conditioning plan by the team’s Brazilian trainer Americo Falopa. In the absence of national coach Jamaal Shabazz, the training will be supervised by assistant national coach Wayne `Wiggy’ Dover. Shabazz, the release stated, “has commitments with his Trinidad and Tobago club Caledonia AIA in the CONCACAF Champions League this week versus Honduras team Marathon.” With the European, Caribbean and North American players also currently unavailable due to club engagements, the squad will comprise 18 local players including striker Anthony `Awo’ Abrams, mid-fielder Konata Mannings and wingers Dwight Peters and Dwain Jacobs. The final two World Cup qualifiers will be against CONCACAF giants Mexico and Costa Rica on October 12 and 16 respectively, but, the release stated that “one eye is also being placed on the Caribbean Football Union Cup.” Some 25 teams have entered the qualification process for the Caribbean Championship competing for a total of eight final spots. Guyana have been placed in Group two and will face hosts St.Lucia, Curacao and St. Vincent and the Grenadines from October 21-25.
Even though the qualifying tournament is also part of the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifying process, the tournament has not been included by FIFA on the FIFA International match calendar meaning that the participating nations’ first choice players may not be available to play due to club commitments. As such, Coach Dover noted that there is a lot of incentive for the local players to impress to be a part of those matches.
Guyana training squad: Richie Richard, Dellon Young, Derrick Carter, Jason Crumwell, Les Charles Chrichlow, Dwain Jacobs, Kester Jacobs, Philbert Moffat, Konata Mannings, Andrew Murray Jr, Dwight Peters, Anthony Abrams, Daniel Wilson, William Europe, Aloysius Edwards, Anthony Benfield, Anthony Abrams, Clive Nobrega.
